Margolis Heads from the Bay State to the Empire State

New York State will soon have a new Librarian, a rather well-known one who's crossed the Massachusetts border...Bernie Margolis.

Margolis begins his new job after 11 years as president of the Boston Public Library, the nation's oldest. He was ousted in June after a political dust-up with Mayor Thomas M. Menino. Margolis defied the mayor's order to filter Internet content on the library's public computers after concerns were raised that patrons, including teenagers, could view pornographic sites. The two men also fought over library funding, how much to focus on technology improvements and expansions at branch libraries.

"Conflicts between library directors and mayors in Boston go back to 1878," he said. "History repeats itself every 20 years or so. Unfortunately, my timing was bad."

The denouement of their long-running battles came when Margolis likened Menino to a dictator and denounced the mayor's "anti-intellectual bent." More from the Albany Times-Union.